The invention relates to a motor vehicle including a drive motor for driving the motor vehicle, at least one additional motor and at least one differential for distributing a drive torque generated by the drive motor and transmitted to a driven differential element of the differential, to two output shafts.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
In order to improve the driving behavior of a motor vehicle it is known to use vehicle systems that distribute a torque provided by a drive motor between multiple axles of a motor vehicle, in particular between a front axle and a rear axle or between the wheels of an axle of a motor vehicle. One possible way to distribute torques between output shafts, wherein different rotational speeds of the output shafts are possible, is a differential or a differential transmission. In motor vehicles numerous different variants of differentials are used in order to for example prevent a redistribution of torques to a slipping wheel. Hereby purely passive systems such as simple limited slip differentials are known, however it is also known to brake one of the output shafts in a targeted manner in order to prevent the torque redistribution.
In order to improve the adaptability of the distribution of torques between the output shafts, so-called torque vectoring systems are also used which are capable of distributing torques between the drive axles in a targeted manner by way of a mechanical redistribution of a portion of the drive torque from the differential directly to the corresponding drive axle. For this the output shafts can be coupled to the drive shaft for example via a hydraulic or electromechanical coupling, for example with a stepper motor or a magnetic coupling.
A disadvantage in such systems for adjusting the torque distribution is that relatively complex mechanics are required. This increases the costs and the weight of the motor vehicle.
Also known are hybrid vehicles, which utilize an electric motor in order to increase the drive power of an internal combustion engine. For this an internal combustion engine, an electric motor and a drive shaft can for example be coupled via a planetary transmission, with which a torque, provided by the eclectic motor, is added to the torque of the internal combustion engine, which enables shifting the load point of the internal combustion engine. On one hand this can be used for increasing the drive power and on the other hand for reducing the fuel consumption of the internal combustion engine.
A disadvantage hereby is however that the electric motor and the further components increase the weight and the cost of the motor vehicle.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved motor vehicle, which enables a controlled distribution of torques between different wheels or axles of the motor vehicle.